Gulls Ride Comback to Win against Abbotsford
November 4, 2024 - American Hockey League (AHL)
San Diego Gulls News Release
The San Diego Gulls rallied for a 6-4 comeback win over the Abbotsford Canucks tonight at Pechanga Arena. The win is the Gulls' first on home ice in the 2024-25 season.
San Diego scored five third-period goals to complete the three-goal comeback, matching the Gulls' highest third-period goal in the team's AHL history last set Nov. 13, 2019 vs. San Jose.
Jansen Harkins picked up five assists, a new Gulls AHL record. His five points also match a Gulls single-game high in points set twice before by Glenn Gawdin (1-4=5; Feb. 10, 2024 @ CGY) and Sam Carrick (3-2=5; Nov. 25, 2018 @ STK). The five-assist effort matches Harkins' AHL career-highs in both points and assists (0-5=5; Nov. 2, 2019 vs. GR w/ MB). Among all AHL skaters, he is now tied for second in both points and assists.
Rodwin Dionicio scored his first AHL goal and earned his first AHL assist for his first professional multi-point game.
Nikita Nesterenko netted his second & third (EN) goals of the season, his second career AHL multi-goal game. He now has 3-3=6 points on the campaign.
Sam Colangelo deposited the game-winning goal, his first career GWG. He leads San Diego with six goals on the season.
Roland McKeown scored for the second consecutive game, marking his third career goal streak (2-0=2).
Ryan Carpenter scored his second goal of the season, his third straight game with a point (1-2=3).
Coulson Pitre tallied two assists (0-2=2) for his first professional points and first pro multi-point game.
Tristan Luneau earned his first two assists of the season (0-2=2), his first AHL multi-point game.
Oscar Dansk made 18 saves. Calle Clang stopped all five shots faced in relief to earn his second win of the season.
The Gulls will be in action again on Saturday for the first of back-to-back games against the Tucson Roadrunners at Tucson Convention Center Arena (7 p.m. PST).
POSTGAME QUOTES
SAN DIEGO GULLS
Center Jansen Harkins
On the team's third period comeback
I mean, just a lot of belief. You know, we're still early in the year but we've come back quite a few times now. I think doing it before already obviously helps, and then just try to get one and go from there, obviously. Once we got one it started clicking for us.
On what caused the turnaround
Just sticking with it, I don't think we changed too much. We had a really good last 10 minutes of the second period. I think just a lot of momentum going into the break there, and we came out hard and we kind of just started dropping for us. We couldn't buy a goal the first five periods, for whatever reason, but the sixth, it just happened for us. Just sticking with it.
On a weight being lifted off the team after the win
I mean, you want to see them going eventually, right? I think that builds a lot of confidence. And to just believe that eventually they're going to start coming. We worked hard. We worked hard yesterday, we worked hard today, and just happy to see them drop. Going to the net is hard, getting the pucks through. It really comes down to an inch here or there, and then that makes a difference.
On how to carry this momentum into next weekend's games
I think we try to take a day or two. We've had a busy schedule. Use the time off wisely and come back ready to work for practice. The coaches have been honest from day one, just try to get a little bit better every day. Hopefully in Tucson, we can show up on that next level.
Defenseman Rodwin Dionicio
On what was said on the bench before the third period comeback
We were really patient and just letting the game come to us, for sure. We know what we got, and we were letting the game come to us. We did a pretty [good] job. And, just, observing the rush and trying to play really quick. I think it went pretty well.
On his first career AHL goal
It started with a face off, and I just saw that we had a lefty on the right side, and I just was supposed to go on the left side, down. Luckily, I got the puck in this situation, I just wanted to score. Lucky I got it in the back of the net and started off that beautiful comeback we had.
On the energy during the third period
Me being new here, the crowd is unreal here. We started with one goal, and they just get louder and louder every time, and we just fed off of it. I mean, the boys loved it and we just played with the crowd in our bag, we played our best and we got that come back. We're just trying to get momentum out of this game and just keep playing our way.
On this win and their rest before next week's road trip
A couple of days off definitely are going to be good for us. Just take a little bit of time off from the game. It feels great to get our first win in front of our home crowd too. We just have to keep feeding on it. Play with momentum, we know what we got, we just have to play hard and be here every day.
Head coach Matt McIlvane
On the comeback win
I'm just happy for the guys. We've been putting in good efforts in probably three of our last four games, we're really proud of the product and then finding ways to not win games. From today, for the guys to have this feeling after the game, it's a big deal for them.
On the decision to make a goaltending change
I just knew that we needed a little hope, and I felt like in the moment that's the only change that could happen outside of maybe shuffling some lines that just shows the guys we're still fighting. It's tough for Oscar, but Calle jumped in and closed the door when he needed him and you know, the guys caught fire.
On the comeback being led by the veteran newcomers
We have a proud group and we've seen this multiple times this year where we're down, we come back and we don't always come all the way back, but we know we've got this resiliency in us and those guys, they led the way, and it was fun. There was a lot of momentum on our side.
On what he told the group following the win
I'm proud of them. We have to store this one in our memory bank because it won't be the only time we're down this season, but to know that it's worth it to keep fighting and to stay connected mentally to what we're trying to do. We've got this in us and so now this is our expectation.
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